Philippe Gordiani and Nicolas Boudier

based on La Horde du contrevent by Alain Damasio

A decidedly immersive theatrical and musical performance awaits. Seated on stage in an arrangement of 44 seats, the audience relives the saga of the last Horde of the Counterwind, across from Sov Strochnis, the scribe suffering from partial amnesia who is the last survivor of the Horde.

In the beginning there was speed, pure elusive motion, the “wind-lightning.” Then the cosmos slowed, brought forth form and substance, until survivable densities arose, until there was life, until there was you. Welcome to you, slack and thwarted Man, who braid your breathless traceries of haste. We are cut from the cloth of the wind unfolding.

Alain Damasio

The audience is directly connected to Sov Strochnis’ memory via a tech combo: a diminished reality headset and bone conduction headphones. As the Horde continues to move, the audience finds itself in the midst of a multiphonic digital experience, a chaotic re-enactment of the 34^th Horde’s journey, through flashes of light and snatches of sound. Sov Strochnis recounts his trek against the Furvent wind to reach the mythical Upper Reaches, the source of all winds.

Image: A l‘origine fut la vitesse © Nicolas Boudier

Story: La Horde du contrevent, Alain Damasio
Direction, music composition, sound design, live music: Philippe Gordiani
Staging, stage equipment and combo, set design, and lighting: Nicolas Boudier
Performer: Thomas Poulard
Dramaturgy: Philippe Gordiani, Nicolas Boudier, Lancelot Hamelin
Adaptation: Lancelot Hamelin, Philippe Gordiani
Set design assistant: Agathe Mondani
Set design trainee: Ariane Germain
Inter-media software development: Benjamin Furbacco
Production / touring: Charles Eric Besnier & Charlotte Kaminski – Bora Bora productions
Production: Pygmophone